Well Race Fans, it is that time of year again and the Pine is out of the box for most of us… now I’m sure we’ve got some Scouts already cutting, sanding and painting, and maybe some who’re about to get underway with RACING! Here’s some tips to a successful, FUN, and safe event…

Daniel’s Rules (unofficial ones anyway):

1. Number 1, It’s gotta be FUN! We all want to win trophies when they are available, but remember that Pinewood Derby is all about the fun of creating, designing and building YOUR OWN CAR with DAD (or MOM) and SON… the Trophy is just icing on the cake.

2. If making cars is a den activity and you realize you’ve run out of stuff to do in the time allotted, KEEP SANDING. My dad did this with our Den 5 back in the day. I couldn’t figure out why at first (I was 7 or 8 at the time), which tells me that my younger contemporaries won’t know any different anyway… and not only that, you’re car comes out looking SOOOOO much smoother than others. Sand it by hand, don’t use machines for this or you’ll kill the war story for later (“We just sanded and sanded and sanded!”).

3. Don’t try to figure out the loop-holes. That’s just a big waste of time and it kills the true spirit of why we have Pinewood Derby… again, it’s about spending time with Mom (or Dad). It is really silly when I encounter a parent at the judges table at check-in for the District Race that has obviously thought out his campaign and speech for why he’s aloud to use a different wheel than everybody else… dumb.

4. If you win at the PACK level, GO TO THE DISTRICT RACE! If you don’t win at the PACK level, GO TO THE DISTRICT RACE! You always have the option of entering your car in the OPEN class (sometimes called contenders and pretenders). This class of racers is open to Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, sisters, Dad’s, your church pastor… whomever! AND you don’t have to be a PACK level winner, that’s why it is OPEN!

5. If you haven’t watched the famous Hollywood Film, Down and Derby, DO THIS NOW!!! Go rent it on Netflix or Apple TV or buy it on Amazon… whatever. WATCH IT with your kids! This will help TEMPER a little bit of the “Silly Dad” in all of you out there. Besides that, this is one of the best major motion pictures about Cub Scouts, It is family friendly, VERY FUNNY and it is also one of the last films in which Pat Morita (of Karate Kid fame) starred. So, anyway… this rule’s important!

6. If your pack didn’t give out PWD cars as Christmas presents at the December Pack meeting, you should change that for next year!… Oh and don’t forget, for the larger packs out there… you can buy cars by the CASE at a HUGE discount when you go to University of Scouting. Put that on your calendar for next year! Oh, and don’t forget to line up a good Santa, those guys are hard to book at the last minute!

7. If you have a smaller Pack or a close Den or group of Dens, you might plan a “Cutting” day at the Dad’s house who has a table saw… don’t be like my dad and go out and buy a brand new table saw and then only use it for annual PWD cutting days and have your daughters grow up being totally jealous of their baby brothers. Someone’s already got one of these, go to their house and save yourself some grief later on. OR visit a local Home Depot or Ace Hardware… these guys love Den visits!

8. Remember, It’s about having FUN. If you’re not… you’re not doing it right.

HEY… you need the official RULES. These one’s won’t work at the Pack or District Race! In fact, these aren’t even “OFFICIAL”… they’re just my personal opinion. I hope you all have LOT’s of fun at your Pack and District Race!

ALSO… if you plan to attend the District/Council Race, you’ll need to register, so you gotta use this form: DOWNLOAD PWD REGISTRATION

I wanted to write and give you some important info on how to measure your progress for Journey to Excellence (JTE)… some of you will soon be eligible for the bronze, silver or GOLD level and you’ll want to report your Scouting year soon!

Here’s a link to a tool (spreadsheet) you can use to track your status on several key benchmarks. Assign a leader in your unit to help track and update this at each Unit Committee meeting which you should be having every month…

A couple of cool things about these useful spreadsheets is that 1) it will help you track your status very simply, 2) you will be able to share this by email with your unit on a monthly basis BEFORE your Committee meetings, 3) it contains a GREAT budget tool to help your unit plan for re-charter, program budgets, summer camp, and unit advancements so that you can PROPERLY set a unit fee, instead of just guessing and then setting it too high. In other words, budgeting will help you keep Scouting affordable and it will also help you set a goal for things like Popcorn and Camp Card sales…

If you have other questions, I encourage you to call your commissioner or visit with your fellow leaders at the next Roundtable. The JTE website has LOTS of great information including a webinar for each unit designation, a powerpoint to share with your Unit Committee and leaders, and some FAQ’s that will help you further.

Take some time to share this with your committee this month… this is the time to get started so that you can ensure your Unit’s achievement this year.

Successful Packs share several traits that result in better program for the boys. If your Pack will do these five things, your boys will have a better Scouting experience too!

Confirm your KEY LEADERS NOW! – Know who will be your Cubmaster, Committee Chair, Den Leaders, and important key Committee members before SUMMER (and be sure to email that to Daniel!)

BACK TO PACK – Kick off the new school year by getting a BACK to PACK event on the calendar now! At this event have all of the boys and adults re-register for 2012 and pay their registration fee… this makes re-charter time soooooooo much easier! You’ll have a better inventory of returning adults and leaders, AND a better handle on dens PRIOR to Round-up. And then, only NEW boys need to attend the round-up. Schedule this as an end-of-summer picnic or pool party in late July or early August BEFORE most round-ups will occur.

plan your IDEAL YEAR OF SCOUTING! – take some time to brainstorm and plan the most exciting year for your Scouts and then talk about making it happen using these steps… PLANNING, BUDGETING, GOAL setting, Communicating the plan to parents, EARNING THE MONEY, EXECUTING the plan. A more detailed version of the IYOS plan is included in the original publication. Join us for an Ideal Year of Scouting Brunch and earn an additional 1% sales commission on POPCORN this year! June 25 at Gainesville First United Methodist Church on Thompson Bridge Rd. or June 30 at LDS Church in Suwanee on Suwanee Dam Rd. SEE YOU THERE!

ROUNDUP – Roundup is a COUNCIL coordinated recruiting effort that benefits your pack. The District Executive and District committee will set up the Roundup schedule and a trained Roundup captain will run this meeting which usually lasts about 90 minutes. THE PACK’s role is to support the meeting and help it run smooth. This is NOT a Pack meeting, but a smooth, well-timed program designed to get your new Scouts (AND PARENTS!) energized about the Scouting program. Roundup orientation this year will be held on Tuesday August 2nd at 7:00PM at the Cumming Kiwanis Club for the Etowah District. You will want at least one leader to attend this meeting to find out your Roundup schedule!!!

School Registration Night (OPEN HOUSE) – Set up a booth and have some Scouts or parents in uniform to promote the Roundup night! Have flyers or magnets (Daniel can provide these), some pictures of your campout or Spring trip to the Yorktown, even have some old pinewood derby cars or trophies. If you share your school with another Pack coordinate with them! It is important to have two equally strong packs in those cases.

How to Have a Successful FALL is a full publication put out by the Northeast Georgia Council and distributed at May Roundtables each year. You can download a copy of it here.

On Saturday, April 16th, at the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds, your family can enjoy a day with THOUSANDS of Scouts showing off their skills and displaying things they’ve learned over the past year at the Northeast Georgia Council’s ScoutBLAST 2011. The event runs all day, but Troops can set up camp the night before to get their displays ready. Families will love the hundreds of displays, crafts, live music, and demonstrations by Police, Fire, and EMS Explorer teams competing.

UNIT DISPLAYS – Packs, Troops, Crews, Ships, or Posts can set up any kind of display that shares your Unit’s Scouting knowledge from a new game, a craft for everyone to do, an outdoor exibit, an instructional display, a cooking demonstration, a pioneering project,… you name it! Anything goes… just be sure to read the rules before you decide what your display will be…

Special Events – stay tuned for a listing of additional special events as we get closer to ScoutBLAST. There will be live music, Scouting Displays all day long, and of course, The Council Pinewood Derby Race. Don’t forget the new open class race called Contenders and Pretenders!

AWARDS – Special awards will be given out for your display having originality, live action, skill proficiency, Exceptional Scout Spirit, Youth led (Boy Scouts), and Youth participation (Cub Scouts).